US Says Challenges to Rio Tinto’s Arizona Copper Mine Lack Merit

Tribal and environmental groups trying to stop the US Forest Service’s transfer of sacred land to a copper mine company have “exceptionally weak” claims unworthy of an injunction, the federal government argued in a court filing.

“Congress already determined by statute that the exchange advances the public interest by facilitating critical copper mining and expanding the national system of conservation lands,” according to the brief Justice Department attorneys filed Monday in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The mining project has been opposed by multiple environmental and tribal groups for several years. Consolidated ...